15.08.2025 21:52
U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin will hold a one-on-one meeting today in Alaska. While the resolution of the Ukraine-Russia war is expected to be the main topic on the agenda, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov's arrival in Alaska wearing clothing that says 'USSR' has drawn attention.
The US leader Trump and the Russian leader Putin will meet today in Alaska to discuss the end of the Russia-Ukraine War, which has been ongoing since 2022, and to address talks between the two countries.
The main topic of the meeting, which will take place today at Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, will be the resolution of the Ukraine crisis. The two leaders will also consult on regional issues.
MESSAGE FROM LAVROV
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Alaska wearing a sweatshirt that said "USSR" (CCCP Soviet Union). Lavrov's choice of clothing was perceived as a "message."
THE SYMBOLIC IMPORTANCE OF ALASKA BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES
Although many claims have been made about the location where the two leaders will meet, the parties will gather in Alaska, which was sold to the US by the Russian Empire in the 19th century. The choice of Alaska over the mentioned Arab countries for the meeting carries many symbolic meanings.
RUSSIA SOLD ALASKA TO THE US IN 1867
Discovered in 1732 by two explorers, Mikhail Gvozdev and Ivan Fedorov, Alaska was later evaluated by traders and provided income to the Russians through fur trade. The Russian-American Company was established in the region in 1799. In the second half of the 19th century, the economic burden brought by the Crimean War created difficult financial conditions for the Russians. Subsequently, the sale of the lands in Alaska to the US was proposed. Although the idea was first put forward in 1857 by Knez Konstantin Nikolayeviç, the brother of the then Russian Tsar Alexander II, Alaska was sold to the US with the Tsar's approval on March 30, 1867.
WITH TODAY'S INFLATION, $153 MILLION WAS PAID
The amount paid to the Russians for Alaska corresponds to approximately $153 million today, considering the average dollar inflation rate of 1.97% from 1867 to 2024. In this transaction, the then US Secretary of State William Seward played a significant role. However, Seward faced heavy criticism from many quarters at the time. The US media referred to the purchase of Alaska as "Seward's folly."
THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF ALASKA
Over the years, the value of Alaska and Seward's justification became apparent. With the discovery of underground riches, Alaska's geopolitical importance increased, and it has developed a significant position in terms of regional tourism, covering about 17% of current US territory. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), it is estimated that Alaska, which was accepted as the 49th state of the US in 1959, contains about 13% of the world's undiscovered oil reserves and approximately 30% of natural gas reserves.
Alaska is of key importance for US strategic operations. General Billy Mitchell, considered the father of the US Air Force, claimed in 1935 that Alaska was "the most strategic place in the world." Located among the world's most important cities, Alaska is approximately 6,000 kilometers from Beijing, 6,700 kilometers from Moscow, 5,300 kilometers from Tokyo, and 7,150 kilometers from Warsaw.
Alaska also has military significance for the US, with about 22,000 members of the US air, land, and naval forces, along with 4,700 guards and reserve soldiers. Air force personnel make up 38% of the military personnel in the region. Offering the US a "forward base" advantage against Russia, Alaska is also crucial for the US's military presence and defense in the Arctic. The distance between Alaska's westernmost point and Russia's easternmost point, Cape Dezhnev, is about 80 kilometers.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the Chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, stated in July 2022, "The US must never forget Alaska, which is part of its territory. When they try to manage our resources abroad, they should not forget that there is something we can take from them as well."
PUTIN WILL BE THE FIRST RUSSIAN LEADER TO VISIT ALASKA
Although past visits to the US have been made by Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as Boris Yeltsin and Dmitry Medvedev from Russia, Putin will go down in history as the first Russian leader to visit Alaska. Putin's visit to New York in 2015 to attend the United Nations (UN) General Assembly is considered his last visit to the US.
A TURNING POINT IN TIME
The distance from Alaska, which belongs to the US, across the Bering Strait to Russia's Chukotka region is 86 kilometers. Here, the border between the two countries runs through the middle of the 3.8-kilometer distance between Russia's Big Diomede Island (Ratmanov) and the US's Little Diomede Island. This area, which forms the border between Russia and the US, is an important point where the time zone changes, and the "International Date Line" passes through here. During the Putin-Trump summit, which will take place on August 15, 2025, within US borders, the calendars in Russia, just next to the border, will show August 16, 2025. Despite this short distance between the two countries, the time difference is 21 hours.